Feud continues as Moyo is barred from returning to work at Old Mutual again
Old Mutual barred Peter Moyo from resuming his duties as CEO on Monday, days after a court again reinstated him to his position, in an escalation of a public slinging match that has weighed on the insurer’s share price and reputation.
Moyo, who was fired in June over a breakdown in trust and alleged conflict of interest, was attempting to work in the wake of a court order upholding his reinstatement as CEO that was handed down by judge Brian Mashile on Friday.
“I am not going to allow myself to be bullied because I know there is absolutely nothing wrong that I did.
“I stuck to my side of the bargain, I stuck to my contract,” said Moyo, who was addressing the media in the offices of his estranged employer.
The rare public feud has weighed on Old Mutual’s share price and prompted several shareholders including Stanlib and Allan Gray to call for a speedy resolution behind closed doors. Since Moyo’s departure, Old Mutual’s share price has dropped 10%, wiping off about R11bn of its market capitalisation. Smaller shareholder Benguela Global Fund Managers also called for a speedy resolution and suggested that the Old Mutual board could not escape blame for the fiasco.
“It’s a big mess for shareholders. We don’t want to see this type of thing playing out in public,” said Karl Gevers, head of research at Benguela Global Fund Managers.
“Given that the board is partly responsible for the mess because processes weren’t followed correctly, there should be some accountability and perhaps the chairman [Trevor Manuel] should consider stepping down.
“We would have preferred the company does not incur a hefty golden handshake or expensive legal fees,” Gevers said.
Moyo and his lawyer, Eric Mabuza, were pulled into a boardroom soon after he arrived at Old Mutual’s offices on Monday morning. They were informed that Old Mutual would seek a court order to enforce its second dismissal letter sent towards the end of August.
“We informed Mr Moyo through his lawyers [on Sunday] that he was neither permitted nor required to come to work this morning [Monday] because the second letter of notice served to him on 21 August holds,” said Old Mutual spokesperson Tabby Tsengiwe.
Since Moyo had not challenged the contractual validity of the second dismissal letter, he should not be returning to work, Old Mutual said.
The company said it remained confident its appeal would be successful. Old Mutual is appealing against Mashile’s ruling of July 30, which reinstated Moyo and barred the company from recruiting a new CEO after procedural flaws in its handling of Moyo’s dismissal.
On Friday, Mashile granted Old Mutual leave to appeal against his earlier ruling, but said the insurer must reinstate Moyo pending the outcome of the appeal.
Speaking to journalists, Moyo said that he had expected to be rebuffed.
“I should not be party to helping people to be in contempt of court. We actually think it is getting to the level of being very ridiculous, we actually don’t know what they are looking for,” Moyo said.
At the heart of the drama is the payment of ordinary dividends by NMT Capital, a firm cofounded by Moyo, in July 2018 without first paying Old Mutual its preferential dividends and preferential capital. Old Mutual owns about 20% of NMT.